Did I ever tell the story about Art Carney (you remember Norton from the Honeymooners)?
He was in a play at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit Maine. In the evening we used to go down to the beach and sit in a little shelter there and just look out at the ocean. This one evening there was a family trip, I guess, because my Mother, Father, Sister and My wife and myself were sitting there starring out at the water when we looked up and saw two people come up and sat a few feet away from us. It was Art Carney and his wife. They were staying at a hotel just a little way away.
My mother went into partial paralysis and just sat there looking at them. She had a camera and didn't want to use it and also didn't want to talk to him. That was because, I think, that my family always held that no matter what their status in life is they have a right to some privacy. So we just waited, afraid to move. After a short time, Mr. Carney and his wife got up and started walking toward their hotel. As soon as they cleared out, my mother said to my Dad, lets get to the car and as we drive by them I can take a picture. We all headed for the car and by the time we all got in, they were close to their place. By the time we got there they were walking into the drive way of the hotel so my father cut over through it to get in a position for my Mother to take the picture. The trouble was that he cut it a little to short and the next thing we saw was Art Carney and his wife both leaping into the ditch along side the road to avoid getting run over. Dad gunned the motor and made a quick exit out the other driveway never to be seen again. So much for celebrity privacy. I refer to that trip is the "We almost killed Art Carney" vacation.
In case you are wondering, we did see that both were upright and not injured before we made the quick getaway.